Discussion

Good Food Near East Broadway F Train Station

Most of my Chinatown faves tend to be slightly west of this locale, but I would love to get recommendations of places near the subway that you find good. That way I could hop off the train, eat nearby and hop back on to my home in Bklyn.I'm obviously thinking of Chinese places mostly, but would love to hear about any place that's good.thanks

I'm quite fond of the East-of-Bowery Chinatown, myself - it's less crowded / touristy than the Western half, and perhaps a bit of home 'hood pride as well. Anyway, here's my recommendations -

Eastern Eats:

Overseas Taste (Canal) and Skyway (Allen) - for Malaysian. I generally prefer Overseas, but I like the rendang and pearl noodles a bit more at Skyway. Splitting hairs, though. Both are solid.

Lam Zhou - great hole in the wall for hand-pulled noodles, if you can deal with the constant thwack-thwack-thwack of a burly Chinese man throwing a ball of dough against a metal table in the dining room. I assume this is the place Kathryn meant by "Lan Zhou" - usedto be a place with that name on Division (not as good as Lam Zhou) but they're not there anymore, were replaced with a Hong Kong Station IIRC.

Sheng Wang - I prefer the hand-pulled noodles at Lam Zhou, but Sheng Wang also has knife-peel noodles, which are excellent.

Fuleen Seafood - probably the best of the higher-end Cantonese places this side of Broadway. On a level with Oriental Garden, and they actually do land fare better than OG. Good combination of high-end seafood and more rustic fare - the preserved duck & taro casserole is a rootsy wintertime fave of mine. Their geoduck two ways is outstanding (though expensive) and they do conch better than most, I find. Really one of those menus it's hard to go wrong with, and they have great lunch deals as well.

Lee Chung Cafe - cute little spot on Madison, seems to be run by a group of younger kids who took over their family's space (a la Nom Wah) and are just making the comfort food from home (Guangdong) - which means everything from Boba Tea to grilled cheese sandwiches to Burmese fish broth soup.

Panda Dumpling - they have a pretty interesting menu that they're still tinkering with. Their steamed dumplings I find better than their fried ones, and their dumpling sauce is actually among the best I've had - seems like they make it themselves. Solid cold noodle dishes as well.

A little bit further West, Cong Ly (on Hester) has my favorite Pho in town. Pho Grand is also good, too, and open later.

Also worth checking out: Ah Ping Snack Bar (though I haven't been in about a year), and various Fujian places along Eldridge (Best Fuzhou & Rong Hang stand out)

Western Eats:

169 Bar - decent little dive bar, popular with restaurant workers. Has some fun bar food, good oysters, gets VERY crowded on the weekends though.